Apparel having a portion visually resembling a natural habitat of a living thing

ABSTRACT

An apparel having a portion of the apparel visually resembling a natural habitat of a living thing such as animals, birds, plants etc. includes one or more recess portions made on the apparel. The recess portion is in shape of a pocket of the apparel and can receive a toy living thing completely or in part. The apparel further includes a visual representation of the natural habitat of the toy living thing provided on and around the recess portion. The recess portion provided on the apparel forms a part of the natural habitat of the toy living thing. The placement of the toy living thing, by at least in part, inside the recess portion and movement of the toy living thing into and out of the recess portion resembles activities of the particular living thing in its natural habitat.

BACKGROUND OF THE EMBODIMENT Technical Field of the Embodiment

The present embodiment relates to apparel having natural habitat designs intended to be worn primarily by children. More specifically, the present embodiment relates to an apparel having natural habitat designs of animals, plants and birds and means for placing the toy animal, plant and bird onto the apparel.

Description of the Related Art

Designer garments including Tee-shirts, shirts, skirts, etc. or like are, of course, well known. Most of the existing designs on the garments are two-dimensional designs, however there are some designers offering three-dimensional designs on the garments with three-dimensional decorative objects attached to the garments. The decorative objects are made in a three-dimensional shape using lightweight materials and are attached to the garment, without causing much discomfort to the wearer. Designer garments for kids and small children are of particular interest as most of the designer garments for kids include the picture of a toy animal or bird or a natural design. In some instance, the designer garments for kids and small children includes three-dimensional attachments in form of toy animals that provide amusement to the children. The designer garments for kids having designs of toy animals or its habitats not only give amusement to the kids but also give knowledge about the animal and its habitat and much more environmental related information to the children.

Some existing children's garments have decorations such as doll figures or the like sewn onto the garment, which provides pleasure and amusement to the children. However, because these figures are permanently affixed to the garment and the children are not allowed to perform any activities with the doll figures. Some other garment designs provide child's garment decorated with figures and clothing items for the figures with the clothing items being releasably attached to the figures and readily interchangeable with other clothing items. For example the child's garment can be provided with doll, animal or other figures and interchangeable clothing for the figures that when in place the figures are firmly attached to the clothing, and yet which can be removed quickly and easily.

Various garment designs with attachable toys are available for kids in the market. Of particular, the following patents are herein incorporated by reference for their supportive teachings, and include:

U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,503 A issued to Lawrence on Sep. 20, 1988, which discloses a molded rubber object attached as decoration to a Tee-shirt or like garment. The attachment is confined to the shoulder for proper support and balance, and without internal object-supporting pads necessary to hold the shape of the decorative object. However the above garment designs do not provide a way for the kids to play with toy animals in its natural habitat and do not assist children in learning about the particular animal and its natural habitat.

The publication WO 1988002605 A1 filed by Douglas and Juetta Sep. 28, 1987 discloses a garment and doll combination by which a doll is detachably attachable to a garment. A hook and pile structure is employed to attach the doll. The hook and pile structure may be of the type referred to as VELCRO. A hook or pile element or member is secured to a portion of a garment, and a complementary hook or pile element or member is secured to a portion of a doll. Thus, the doll can be readily attached to the garment and detached therefrom. Preferably, but not necessarily, the structure of this invention is employed in attachment of a doll to a shoulder portion of a child's garment. Thus, the child may engage in all normal children's activities while the doll is maintained upon the person of the child.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,372, by John J. Lawler, granted 1999 May 11, which teaches of a toy animal, such as a soft sculpture, is integrated with a design imprinted or depicted on an article of clothing, wherein the design depicts a habitat for the toy animal. Preferably, the design is related to a pocket, so that the animal enters the habitat by being placed in the pocket. Alternatively, or in addition, the toy animal may be appropriately mounted on the design by Velcro™ or other fastener means.

Hence, it can be seen that there is a need for an apparel or garment having decorations, attachments and or designs resembling the natural habitat of living things including plants, animals and birds. The apparel with animal natural habitat designs and toy animals would assist the kids to learn about different types of living things including animals, plants and birds and the habitat of each of the animals, plants and birds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is apparel having one or more portions on the apparel designed to visually resemble a natural habitat of one or more living things including animals, birds or plants or combination of any of these. The present apparel includes one or more portions of the apparel visually resembling a natural habitat of a living thing including animals, birds or plants. The present apparel further includes one or more recess portions made on the apparel. The recess portion can be a pocket attached to the chest portion of the apparel. The recess portion in shape of the pocket on the apparel is used to receive one or more toy living things including animals or birds or plants or combination of any of these. The apparel further includes a visual representation of the natural habitat of the toy living thing provided on and around the recess portion. The visual representation on the recess portion of the apparel forms a part of the overall natural habitat of the toy living thing represented on the apparel. The placement of the toy living thing, fully or at least in part, inside the recess portion or the pocket on the apparel resembles the natural living habitat or natural shelter of the toy living thing. In addition, the placement and movement of the toy living thing into and out of the recess portion on the apparel resembles a variety of natural activities of the living thing in the natural habitat visually represented on the apparel.

Another feature of the invention is an apparel having at least one portion visually resembling a natural habitat of a living thing and a toy releasably coupled to the apparel.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Elements in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale in order to enhance their clarity and improve understanding of these various elements and embodiments of the invention. Furthermore, elements that are known to be common and well understood to those in the industry are not depicted in order to provide a clear view of the various embodiments of the invention, thus the drawings are generalized in form in the interest of clarity and conciseness.

FIG. 1 shows an apparel having one or more portions on the apparel designed to visually resemble a natural habitat of one or more animals including birds, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows the apparel having the hollow tree stump natural habitat visually represented on the apparel, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows the visual representation of natural habitat on an interior of the recess portion or the pockets provided on the apparel, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows the visual representation of the natural habitat of a bird or the toy animal on the apparel, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows the apparel in form of a T-shirt having a visual representation of hollow tree trunk with holes and branches with the branches extending over the shoulder and sleeve area of the T-shirt, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 shows the apparel in form of pants with a pocket at the thigh area and having a visual representation of a water lily pad cluster depicted over the area of the pocket, where one of the lily pad leaves serves as a flap for the pocket, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

In the following discussion that addresses a number of embodiments and applications of the present invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features. However, any single inventive feature may not address any of the problems discussed above or only address one of the problems discussed above. Further, one or more of the problems discussed above may not be fully addressed by any of the features described below.

The present disclosure relates to apparel or garment having decorations, attachments and or designs resembling the natural habitat of living things including plants, animals and birds. The apparel with animal natural habitat designs is developed for kids and other people who loves to wear clothing having designs resembling the natural habitat of their desired animal or bird. Kids can wear the present apparels with their desired soft sculpture toy living things and play with their toy living things including toy animals by keeping the toy animals at their own natural habitat provided on the clothing or the apparel worn by the kid. Moreover the present apparel enables the kids to learn about different types of living things including animals, plants and birds and the habitat of each of the animals, plants and birds by wearing the apparels having designs of the natural habitat of the particular animal, plant or the bird.

FIG. 1 shows an apparel 100 having one or more portions on the apparel 100 designed to visually resemble a natural habitat of one or more animals including birds, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparel 100 shown in FIG. 1 is a T-shirt, however the type, shape, size and color of the apparel 100 can be selected from anything such as, but not limited to, T-shirts, shirts, jackets, skirts, pants, shorts, etc. The present apparel 100 includes one or more portions of the apparel 100 visually resembling a natural habitat of an animal. The present apparel 100 further includes one or more recess portions 102 made on the apparel 100. The recess portion 102 can be a pocket 102 attached to the chest portion of the apparel 100. In some instances, the apparel 100 includes multiple pockets i.e. on the left and right chest portions of the apparel and pockets near the hip portion of the apparel 100. The recess portion in shape of the pocket 102 on the apparel 100 is used to receive one or more toy animals or birds 104. In some instances, the recess portion or the pocket 102 on the apparel 100 is provided with special means for securely placing the toy animal 104. The special means provided on the recess portion 102 for securely placing the toy animal 104 is used to position the toy animal 104 within the pocket 102, fully or at least in part. The apparel 100 further includes a visual representation of the natural habitat 106 of the toy animal 104 provided on and around the recess portion. The visual representation 106 on the recess portion 102 of the apparel 100 forms a part of the overall natural habitat 106 of the toy animal 104 represented on the apparel 100. For example, the visual representation of the natural habitat 106 shown on the apparel 100 of FIG. 1 is that of a tree trunk having a hole on it to allow an animal like squirrel or other small animals to live in that particular natural habitat 106. A wearer of the apparel or any other person can place the toy animal 104 within the recess portion 102, fully or at least in part. The placement of the toy animal 104, fully or at least in part, inside the recess portion or the pocket 102 on the apparel 100 resembles the natural living habitat or natural shelter 106 of the toy animal 104. In addition, the placement and movement of the toy animal 104 into and out of the recess portion 102 on the apparel 100 resembles a variety of natural activities of the animal in the natural habitat 106 visually represented on the apparel 100.

The hollow tree stump natural habitat 106 visually represented on the apparel 100 i.e. the T-shirt shown in FIG. 1 may part of a fallen or cut down tree in a wooden area. The hollow tree stump natural habitat 106 is visually represented on the recess portion or the pocket 102 attached or stitched to the apparel 100 and a top opening of the pocket or the recess portion 102 forms the opening of the hollow tree stump natural habitat 106 of the animal such as the squirrel. The visual representation of the hollow tree stump natural habitat 106 provided on the pocket or recess portion 102 of the apparel 100 further includes designs of other small plants and other growing flora such as mushrooms, small bush and moss 108 surrounding the hollow tree stump natural habitat 106. This overall design provided on the apparel 100 resembles the natural habitat 106 of the animal such as the squirrel. Kids can place their toy animals 104 such as soft squirrel toys inside the recess portion or the pocket 102 and whenever he/she pulls out/places in the toy animal 104, the viewers feel like the squirrel is getting out of or going into its natural shelter.

FIG. 2 shows the apparel 100 having the hollow tree stump natural habitat 106 visually represented on the apparel 100, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The kids can place the toy animal 104 such as the toy squirrel inside the recess portion or the pocket 102 attached to the apparel 100. The natural habitat 106 of the toy animal 104 is visually represented on and around the pocket 102 of the apparel 100 using stitching, apparel printing, painting, screening, stenciling, lithography, stickers and any other visual representation methods on the apparels. Further the recess portion or the pocket 102 is normally stitched to an interior of the apparel and/or onto the exterior of the apparel 100. The toy animal 104 can be attached to the apparel 100 using at least one attaching means selected from a group consisting of pins, Velcro, hook and pin, clips, buttons and other attaching means. In some instances, the apparel 100 further includes at least one provision for attaching the toy animal 104 at desired positions on the apparel 100 to resemble that the toy animal 104 is sitting on the actual natural habitat of the animal. The recess portion or the pocket 102 may include such provisions such as Velcro or buttons or pins that allow the users to place the toy animal at any position and at any orientation, partially inside the pocket 102, such as arrangement in shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the animal such as the toy squirrel 104 is placed halfway inside the recess or the pocket 102 of the apparel 100. This resembles that the squirrel or the toy animal 104 is looking out of its natural habitat 106 visually represented on the apparel 100. The kids wearing such apparels 100 can play with other kids showing that the squirrel or the toy animal 104 coming out of its shelter and hiding inside its shelter and peeking out of the shelter in its natural habitat 106.

In some instances, the interior of the recess portion or the pockets 102 provided on the apparel 100 also includes similar visual representation of the natural habitat 106 of the toy animal 104, as shown in FIG. 3. The visual representation of the natural habitat 106 on the interior of the pocket 102 forms a continuation of the visual representation of the natural habitat 106 provided around the pocket 102 of the apparel. For example, the visual representation of the natural habitat 106 at the interior of the recess portion or the pockets 102 shows the interior design and features of the trunk of the tree where the squirrel naturally seeks shelter. This allows the kids to understand about the actual natural habitat of the toy animal 104 such as the squirrel.

FIG. 4 shows the visual representation of the natural habitat 106 of a bird or the toy animal 104 on the apparel 100, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The natural habitat 106 of the bird or the toy animal 104 includes a tree trunk and a branch of the tree and is visually represented on the apparel 100. The shelter in the natural habitat 106 of the bird or the toy animal 104 includes a nest located somewhere on the tree branch and the nest is drawn or printed on the apparel 100 at the chest pocket area or on a shoulder. The nest and the supporting tree branch are drawn or printed or visually presented on the apparel 100 with the position of the nest coming right on top of the recess portion or the pocket or shoulder area of the T-shirt or the apparel 100. The tree branch extends from the pocket 102 and through the sides or front portion of the apparel as shown in FIG. 4. The bird's nest on the natural habitat 106 of the toy bird 104 comes on top of the pocket 102 portion and the tree branch supporting the nest extends from the pocket 102 on either sides and to the top and bottom of the pocket 102. The toy animal or the toy bird 104 can be passed through the top opening of the pocket 102 or the recess portion, which forms a part of the bird nest. When the toy bird 104 is passed through the top opening, it resembles the bird being getting into the bird nest and when the toy bird 104 is pulled out of the pocket 102, it resembles the bird being coming out of the bird nest. When the toy bird 104 is placed partially inside the pocket, it resembles the sitting of the bird in the bird nest with a portion of the bid being visible to the viewers.

FIG. 5 shows the apparel 100 in form of a T-shirt having a visual representation of hollow tree trunk with holes and branches with the branches extending over the shoulder and/or sleeve area of the shirt. The visual representation of holes on the trunk aligns onto the pocket or the recess portion 102 on the apparel 100. A toy bird 104 is placed into the pocket 102 resembles a shelter in the natural habitat of the toy bird 04 inside the hole on the trunk of the tree. Further the tree branches extending from the main tree trunk, which is visually represented on the apparel 100, is attached with another toy bird 104 such as, but not limited to, an owl, which resembles the sitting of the toy bird 104 onto the tree branch, on the shoulder, in a natural habitat of the bird. The toy bird 104 is attached to the tree branches extending from the main tree trunk, visually represented on the apparel 100, using an attachment means including: snaps, Velcro, clips, buttons, hook and pins and other attaching means. The opening at the pocket 102 of the apparel 100 visually resembles the hole on the tree trunk and the toy bird 104 can be either fully placed inside the pocket 102 or partially inside the pocket 102, which resembles the peeking of the bird out through the tree hole in a natural habitat of the bird. Further other toy animals 104 can also be attached to the tree branch representing visuals on the apparel 100 using the attachment means including Velcro, snaps, etc.

The present apparel 100 includes a number of stitched and non-stitched garments for men and women including shirts, pants, T-shirts, shawls, skirts and other male and female clothing items. FIG. 6 shows the apparel 100 in form of a pants with a pocket 102 at the thigh area and having a visual representation of a water lily pad cluster depicted over the area of the pocket 102, where one of the lily pad leaves serves as a flap for the pocket 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The area of the pants or the apparel 100 around the pocket 102 is visually represented as a pond with the pocket 102 is visually represented as a water lily or any water plant or flower. The closing flaps of the pocket 102 are represented as the leaves of the plant or the water lily. The opening of the pocket 102 can be used for the placement of any aquatic plant or flower with the leaves represented on and around the pocket 102 of the apparel 100. The user can place a toy aquatic flower or toy aquatic plant 104 in the pocket 102 with the top portion of the toy aquatic flower or toy aquatic plant 104 extending out from the top opening of the pocket 102. This arrangement of the toy aquatic flower or toy aquatic plant 104 in the pocket 102 resembles the natural habitat of an aquatic plant. The flaps of the pocket resembling the leaves of the toy aquatic flower or toy aquatic plant 104 in the pocket 102 can be used to securely close the pocket 102 using buttons or Velcro attachment or any other attachment means.

In a preferred embodiment, the recess portion or the pocket 102 of the present apparel 100 is stitched to an interior of the apparel 100 or onto the exterior of the apparel 100. The visual representation of the natural habitat 106 of the toy animal 104 provided on and around the pocket 102 of the apparel 100 depicts a natural shelter habitat of the animal including a nest, hole, cave and other forms of shelter for animals and birds. The toy animal 104 is attached with the apparel 100 using at least one attaching means selected from a group consisting of pins, Velcro, clips, buttons and other attaching means to resemble the toy animal 104 being in living in its own natural habitat 106. Further in some instances, the apparel 100 includes provisions for attaching the toy animals 104 at desired positions on the apparel 100, which is visually designed to resemble that the toy animals is sitting on the natural habitat 106 of that particular animal or bird or plant. Further the natural habitat 106 of the toy animal 104 can be visually represented on any portion of the apparel 100 including a front, back, side and top portion of the apparel 100. In several instances of the present disclosure, the natural habitat 106 of the toy animal 104 is visually represented on the apparel 100 using stitching, apparel printing, painting, screening, stenciling, lithography, using stickers and other visual representation methods.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. For example, matching designs of a natural habitat can be provided on the apparels for upper body and lower body portions such as matching and continuous habitat designs for a shirt, pants and hats of the wearer. It is intended that the scope of the present invention not be limited by this detailed description, but by the claims and the equivalents to the claims appended hereto. 

We/I claim as follows:
 1. An apparel having at least one portion visually resembling a natural habitat of a living thing comprising: at least one recess portion made on the apparel, wherein the recess portion being in shape of a pocket to receive at least one toy living thing, wherein the recess portion is configured to receive at least a part of the living thing toy; and at least one visual representation of the natural habitat of the toy living thing, the visual representation being provided on and around the recess portion, wherein the recess portion provided on the apparel forms a part of the visual representation of the natural habitat of the living thing toy; characterized in that the placement of the living thing toy, by at least in part, inside the recess portion and movement of the living thing toy into and out of the recess portion on the apparel resembles a plurality of natural activities of the living thing in the natural habitat visually represented on the apparel.
 2. The apparel of claim 1, wherein the natural habitat of the living thing toy is visually represented on the at least one portion of the apparel including a front, back, side and top portion of the apparel.
 3. The apparel of claim 1, wherein the natural habitat of the living thing toy is visually represented on the apparel using stitching, apparel printing, painting, screening, stenciling, lithography, stickers and other visual representation methods.
 4. The apparel of claim 1, includes a plurality of stitched and non-stitched garments are selected from a group consisting of; shirts, pants, T-shirts, shawls, skirts and other male and female clothing items.
 5. The apparel of claim 1, wherein the recess portion is the pocket stitched to an interior of the apparel and onto an exterior of the apparel.
 6. The apparel of claim 1, wherein the visual representation of the natural habitat of the living thing toy provided on and around the pocket of the apparel depicts a natural shelter habitat of the living thing including a nest, hole and other forms of shelter for animals, birds and plants.
 7. The apparel of claim 1, wherein the toy living thing is attached with the apparel using at least one attaching means selected from a group consisting of snaps, Velcro, clips, buttons and other attaching means.
 8. The apparel of claim 1, further includes at least one provision for attaching the living thing toy at desired positions on the apparel to resemble the living thing toy being sitting on an actual natural habitat of the living thing.
 9. The apparel of claim 1, further includes the living thing toy releasably attached to the apparel at a shoulder region near a head of a user. 